The Art of Repurposing Sails.
Dolph Gabeler credits his father for fostering his love of sailing. At age six, his father taught him how to sail his family's 38 foot cruising trimaran in Florida and the Bahamas. In the ensuing years, while his father worked for the CIA in southeast Asia, Dolph had the opportunity to sail with his dad in the Bay of Siam, the Caspian Sea and the waters off Waikiki.
In 1973, Dolph enrolled in a sail making and boat building apprenticeship program in New England before being appointed manager of the Mulit-hull Division at Manchester Yacht Sails in Padanarham, Massachusetts. Dolph moved to Singer Island, Florida in 1980 and incorporated Dolph Sails to manufacture multi-hull sails. In 1984, Dolph helped his father build his dream design --a 48 foot composite trimaran.
The following year Dolph joined Dan Neri and Ken Read at Shore Sails in Newport, Rhode Island and managed the Loft and Multi-hull division. The Shore Sails group teamed up with Sobstad Sails in 1992 and finally merged with North Sails in 1996. For more than three decades Dolph has worked on a wide range of sails from proas to America's Cup sails. He has also taught the fine art of sail making to young aspiring sail makers and top designers.
When sails are beyond repair they are rendered useless and become destined for dumpsters. So it's easy to understand why Dolph started hating himself for dumping forklift loads of sails into our landfills, especially when a particular sail has historical or sentimental ties to yachting heritage. Dolph has adopted an "anti-throwawayism" campaign and has been finding inspiring uses for vintage and high-tech sails to create one-of-a-kind awnings, art, sculpture and custom accessories that honor sail making heritage.
For more information about custom design projects contact:
dolph@dolphsails.com
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